Broken Promise
by Cardinal67
Summary: A Promise Is A Promise, No Matter How Hard It is to Keep.


**Broken Promise**

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_A Promise Is A Promise. No matter How Hard It is to Keep._

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Lie Ren was far from emotional, he was among the most calm, collected, and even-tempered people in all of Beacon. That however did not mean he didn't feel emotions. He simply kept them under far tighter control than those around him. There was however a single person that could illicit a reaction from him; Whether it be a sigh of resignation to one of her goofy antics, or even a rare smile at her successes. His friend and self-proclaimed 'Queen of the Castle' Nora Valkyrie. Looking at the duo, they appeared to be polar opposites, and for the large part they were, with Nora's energetic personality contrasting perfectly with Ren's own controlled temperament. However their relationship ran far deeper than most, with the duo having been inseparable since preschool. The two were the only constant factors in each other's lives… Which is why the sight before the magenta-eyed lotus boy was among the only things ever to reduce him to tears.

Before Ren lay his closest friend… Bloodied and dying… And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Tears fell uneasily from his Magenta eyes as he held Nora tightly, "Nora…" He barely got out, his voice quivering as he clutched his friend tightly. "I'm so sorry…." Ren said, blaming himself for the situation. In truth, it was nobody's fault, just bad luck for the duo. The two had been assigned to patrol the Emerald Forest like they had so many times before. Most patrols went on without incident, the two students rarely having to raise their weapons. Today was no such day, and the two happened upon a particularly large pack of Beowolves.

Though the beowolves were relatively simple to dispatch, they'd gotten the surprise on the two hunters-in-training, casting a deep cut along Ren's abdomen and Nora's right arm. Within minutes the beasts were decimated, hardly laying a scratch on the duo. Ren sighed heavily after the fight, checking to make sure no blood had entered his open wound. Once he was sure he turned to Nora, "Nor…" He said, words failing him as he turned. Nora was on her knees, clutching her arm when she looked up at her magenta-eyed partner, "Ren, I…" Ren stared, frozen in time as his mind and world began to collapse. When Grimm blood entered a body, it corrupted anything it came into contact with, robbing it of it's natural Aura and turning it against itself. In short, Nora was becoming a Grimm. Ren did the only thing that could be expected of a man in this situation; He ran over to Nora, picked her up, and ran like hell back towards Beacon.

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_Several Years Ago, Signal Academy Outskirts_

Nora winced as Ren touched her arm, "Owwww..." She said, trying to pull her arm away from the magenta-eyed boy. Ren's grip was stronger than it appeared and held onto the orange-haired girl, "Nora, I need you to stay still." Nora quickly looked up towards Ren, flashing her best puppy-dog eyes, "But Rennnn... It hurts..." She said, again trying to pull her arm away. Ren sighed, hating to see his friend in pain, "I know, but I need to sew up your arm or else it'll get even worse." Nora grumbled silently for a moment, thinking of a way to avoid stitches. It wasn't that she didn't know she needed them, she just _really _hated needles. "But what about you!?" She exclaimed, pointing with her free hand at Ren's battered chest. Ren glanced down briefly before returning his focus to Nora, "I'll be fine, they look worse than they are." Ren was lying. In truth his wounds were undoubtedly more painful than Nora's own injured arm, but Ren outright refused to help himself before his friend.

Nora, to Ren's disappointment, saw through his lie easily, "Let me see..." Nora said, shifting closer to the green gunslinger. Ren was too slow for Nora who immediately saw the severity of his wounds. Nora gave him a death glare, "Ren... Why are you not fixing yourself?" Ren stared at Nora, silent for a moment. "Uh..." He said unsure of himself. Nora's anger vented slowly out at him, "Finish this stupid stitch already!" She snapped, ignoring her hatred of needles, "We are fixing you up!" She stared him down, fire in her eyes, for several seconds before her smile returned. "And I get to be nurse!" She exclaimed happily. Ren smiled and finished Nora's quick stitch before turning to himself. Several minutes passed before Ren's wound was cleaned and the duo stood up, ready to begin their trek back towards Signal. Roughly a mile from the campus, Nora stopped Ren and stared him down, "Don't you ever put me ahead of yourself again!" She said, poking is chest in a very accusatory manner, "Got it?" Ren nodded quickly, seeing the seriousness in her eyes, "Y-Yes Ma'am." Nora stared at him for another few seconds before extending out her finger, "Pinky Promise?" She both asked and ordered. Ren smiled as he wrapped his finger around hers, "Pinky Promise." He said nonchalantly... He had no idea how hard it would be for him to break that promise.

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"_Everything's gonna be okay." _Ren thought/begged. There were rare cases in which a person could be saved, provided the corrupted area was isolated quickly enough. Unfortunately due to the… Isolated nature of hunters and huntresses, very few ever had the chance to get help. Ren was not going to allow that to happen to Nora. "Ren…" She said weakly, her strength already leaving her body. "Shhh Nora, Don't worry." He said quickly, "We're gonna get you back and the doctor's are gonna fix you right up." He said to comfort himself as much as Nora. "Ren…" Nora said, slightly louder this time. Ren did his best to ignore her, instead focusing on getting as close to Beacon as possible. Jaune and Pyrrha would have received an alert that Nora's Aura had dropped so low and Professor Ozpin would likely have a medical team on standby. _"Just need to keep…" _Ren thought. "Ren." Nora said incredibly quietly, causing Ren to stop and look at his friend.

Ren turned and stared at Nora, the color having drained from her face entirely now. "Please stop," She said, "I want to lie down for a bit." Ren looked into her turquoise eyes, tears falling slowly from his own. He knew they should keep moving but found himself unable to say no to her, "O-Okay…" He said, laying down the orange-haired girl gently, "We'll stop for a minute." Nora smiled weakly, setting herself against a tree, "Thank you." The duo sat like this for over a minute, but the green gunslinger found himself unable to speak, let alone mention it. Nora turned to him slowly, "This hurts a lot." She said simply. Ren moved close to her side, kneeling beside her and preparing to pick her up once more.

At Ren's touch, Nora's body tensed, "Oww…" She said weakly. Ren let go of her immediately, running over any ideas about how to get Nora help… _"Think Dammit!" _He silently willed himself, _"This is Nora's life on the line!"_ Suddenly Ren heard something that chilled him to the very core, he heard the one thing that he'd never dared to believe he would hear, "Ren… Leave." Nora said sadly. Ren snapped his head towards her before he spotted a black spot spreading across her right arm. _"No…" _Ren begged, _"Not yet. It's too soon." _Nora it seemed read his mind, "Just go Ren, I don't want you to see me when I'm… _This_." Ren stared at Nora, failing to register the words she was saying, "But…" He said, tears falling once more, "We can get help…" He said halfheartedly.

Nora shook her head, "It's too late," She said tearfully, "Please just go. I don't want you to remember me like… _One of them_!" Ren tried tearfully to rise but couldn't, instead making a difficult decision in his mind. "I won't leave you!" He yelled, moving closer to his partner, hugging her tightly. "Just Go!" Nora said, almost begging. "No!" Ren snapped back, tears falling quickly from his magenta orbs, "I'm not abandoning you here!" Nora looked at Ren tearfully and, after almost 20 seconds of deep thought spoke "Thank you…" She said weakly. Ren noticed the black mark spreading across her arm, It was almost time. Nora it seemed noticed this too and, with the last of her strength, decided to have one last bit of fun. The pink-clad Valkyrie raised her arm up one final time and faced the teary-eyed gunslinger, "Boop…" She said, poking his nose one last time.

Ren pulled her into a final, tight hug, "I won't let you become one of them…" He said quietly, "I promise…" Nora smiled and closed her eyes. She knew there was nothing that could save her now, _"You don't need to lie to..."_ Her body slacked into Ren's arm, Nora didn't feel anything as the bullet entered her skull; It was a single round; Quick… _painless…_ _"And she'll never be one of those monsters." _He thought angrily. Ren stared at his hand holding StormFlower and a wave of anger and tears washed over him. "It's not fair..." He whimpered, "We were supposed to stand by each other." The green gunslinger felt his grip tighten around the pistol once more, "We were supposed to..." Ren felt his heart break, "We were supposed to be together." Ren tasted salty tears as they rolled across his face and felt his right arm move upwards subtly. "I'm sorry Jaune..." He said between tears, "I'm sorry Pyrrha." Ren looked up one last time at Nora, his orange-haired Valkyrie still laid in his slender arms. She looked almost peaceful, a small smile across her face. She looked almost perfect... _"Except for that damn mark..."_ The black mark had stopped spreading but it still stained her beautiful form, "I'm sorry Nora." He said tearfully, raising StormFlower one final time. "I broke my promise." A faint click followed and a loud bang echoed throughout the forest.

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**A/N: You guys have RWBY Quest on Tumblr and I May Fall by Jeff Williams to blame for this story.**


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